Arditti Quartet / Eesti Muusika Päevad 2025

Cities: Tallinn, Tartu

Estonian Music Days has been one of the most prominent festivals focusing on the musical works of Estonian composers for over 40 years. The festival was born in the late 1970s when the oppression due to Russification grew stronger and several professionals in the field of culture preferred leaving the Soviet Union. Composers’ Union of that time, led by Jaan Rääts, considered important to provide Estonian composers with the opportunity to present their work, thus a festival was launched with the aim of performing and listening to new music as well as exchange thoughts on the subject.

The festival presents the newest work of Estonian composers and introduces works by musicians from various genres and art forms. The idea behind such variety is to balance the domestic with the foreign, the chamberlike with the large-scale. Festival’s programmes are increasingly taking in cross-genre and cross-style musical works. Therefore, the festival has always welcomed audiences with more sensitive and demanding taste. The artistic directors of the festival are composers Helena Tulve, Märt-Matis Lill and Timo Steiner.